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Monday, May 21, 2012

Obama, karzai meet at NATO summit


More work must be done before NATO troops pull out of Afghanistan, U.S. President Barack Obama said as he met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai Sunday.
There will be great challenges ahead. The loss of life continues in Afghanistan. There will be hard days," Obama said at the NATO summit in Chicago. "But we are confident we are on the right track and (what) this NATO summit reflects is that the world is behind the strategy we've laid out. Now it's our task to implement it effectively and I believe we can do so in part because of the tremendous strength and resilience of the Afghan people.

A demonstrator displays an anti-NATO button on
his bandana Sunday. Largely peaceful crowds chanted,
waved signs and banged drums in Chicago.

Obama and other world leaders were expected to draw up a road map out of the war in Afghanistan at the summit, which opened against a backdrop of protests -- including the foiled, homegrown terror plot that allegedly targeted Obama and others.
The summit comes at a key time for NATO countries, who are trying to figure out how to meet a 2014 deadline to withdraw from an unpopular war in Afghanistan while shoring up that nation's security forces.

An Occupy Wall Street protester in Chicago covers himself
with an American flag after a march through
downtown Chicago on Friday.

"There will be no rush for the exits. We will stay committed to our operations in Afghanistan and see it through to a successful end. Our goal, our strategy, our timetable remains unchanged," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Sunday.
Security was tight at the summit following Saturday's arrest of three men, described by authorities as anarchists who plotted to attack Obama's Chicago campaign headquarters and lob Molotov cocktails at police during the summit.
Two other men, not believed to be part of the alleged plot, appeared in court Sunday to face charges from "related investigations," authorities said.
Sebastian Senakiewicz, 24, of Chicago, is charged with falsely making a terrorist threat, prosecutors said in a statement. Mark Neiweem, 28, also believed to be from Chicago, is charged with attempted possession of explosives or incendiary devices. Bond was set at $750,000 for Senakiewicz and $500,000 for Neiweem.
"While the cases that were charged in court today arose from related investigations, the two defendants are not charged with any involvement in the terrorist case from yesterday, and today's cases are separate matters. The two defendants ... each face their own charges arising from separate incidents," prosecutors said.

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